Samsung is testing its “New Note UX” which removes the app drawer
Samsung has recently launched a new beta program for owners of the Galaxy Note 5 in China and Korea. Normally, this wouldn’t be big news, but it seems there’s one large omission from the software. There’s no app drawer.
The early rumors for Android N got everyone up in arms about Google’s supposed attempt to remove the app drawer, drawing stark comparisons to iOS, and upsetting many users. However, Android N was released and the app drawer was still in tact.
When Samsung and LG launched its latest devices, the Galaxy S7/ Galaxy S7 Edge, and the LG G5, there was an option within the settings to remove the app drawer altogether. This still left many scratching their heads looking for a reason why.
Now it seems that Samsung is testing out an all new TouchWiz UI (New Note UX) that doesn’t include the app drawer at all, and this update may end up making its way to all Samsung users in the future. It’s possible that since the beta program is limited to Galaxy Note 5 users, that Samsung is trying to get an idea as to how this change would be implemented in the upcoming Galaxy Note 6/7.
As a former-iOS user, the lack of an app drawer wouldn’t be the end of the world, plus it’s not like third-party launchers such as Nova or Action Launcher would remove this feature. Would you look at a manufacturer differently if the app drawer was removed from your devices?
[via PlayfulDroid]